Karnataka border row set to come up in Maharashtra assembly, opposition seeks details on Amit Shah-CMs meeting
The Karnataka-Maharashtra border row is set to come up in the winter session of the Maharashtra assembly, which starts Monday. Devendra Fadnavis, the state’s deputy minister, on Saturday said that a proposal in this regard will be passed in the assembly.
His comments came as the state saw a mega face-off between the ruling coalition and the opposition with foot marches being held by top leaders.
The border row – a decades-old issue – has yet again been brought up even as the BJP is ruling in both the states and the Centre, bringing the party under attack from the opposition. Earlier this week, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held meetings with Chief Ministers of both the states – Basavraj Bommai and Eknath Shinde – on the matter. No state will stake claim on the contested territory, Amit Shah said after the meeting, stressing that a six-member ministerial team, comprising three ministers each from Maharashtra and Karnataka, will sit-together to discuss the matter. “These ministers will also discuss other pending issues between the two states,” he told at a briefing after the meeting, HT had reported earlier. “Both sides have agreed that the dispute cannot be resolved on the road, but only through constitutional means,” he further said.
On Saturday, Maharashtra Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar sought that details of the meeting be made public. “Karnataka and Maharashtra CMs’ talks with Amit Shah should be made public. We’ll support it if the state government brings proposals on the border issues,” Pawar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. “It’s our old demand that Belagavi, Nipani, Karwar and other border areas should be joined with Maharashtra,” he further added.
Shinde will table the proposal on the border row in the assembly, Fadnavis said on Saturday. “We will pass a proposal pertaining to the Karnataka-Maharashtra border row in the winter session of the state Assembly,” he further added.
The border row remained in focus as the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) took out a rally in their biggest show of strength to demand removal of Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari for “insulting” Chhatrapati Shivaji and to condemn the failure of the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government to give a fitting reply to Karnataka over the dispute.
In a counter-attack, the BJP held a “Maafi-Maango” rally, attacking the opposition over alleged insult to Dr BR Ambekar, Hindu gods and saints of the state by leaders such as Sanjay Raut, Sushama Andhare and Amol Mitkari.